“Certainly thinking is pleasant, but the pleasure of thinking must be subordinated to the art of making decisions.”

Ceremonies
Alain On Happiness (1928)

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Alain35

French philosopher 1868–1951

Charles Buxton (1823–1871) English brewer, philanthropist, writer and politician

Source: Notes of Thought (1883), p. 122

“People don’t like to think, if one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.”

Helen Keller (1880–1968) American author and political activist

Helen Keller: Her Socialist Years (1967)
Context: Some people do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions; and conclusions are not always pleasant. They are a thorn in the spirit. But I consider it a priceless gift and a deep responsibility to think.

“Out of the shadow of the abstract man, who thinks for the pleasure of thinking, emerges the organic man, who thinks because of a vital imbalance, and who is beyond science and art.”

Emil M. Cioran (1911–1995) Romanian philosopher and essayist

On the Heights of Despair (1934)

“Even as we make difficult decisions about going to war, we must also think clearly about how we fight it.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2009, Nobel Prize acceptance speech (December 2009)
Context: Let me make one final point about the use of force. Even as we make difficult decisions about going to war, we must also think clearly about how we fight it.

“Some people do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions; and conclusions are not always pleasant. They are a thorn in the spirit. But I consider it a priceless gift and a deep responsibility to think.”

Helen Keller (1880–1968) American author and political activist

Helen Keller: Her Socialist Years (1967)